Historic Hyde Park to get boost from $500M mixed-use project

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Dive Brief:

Construction of the $500 million Bellefield at Historic Hyde Park mixed-use development is underway in the Hudson Valley area of New York, according to the Daily Freeman, billed by developers as the area's "community for food, culture and wellness."

First in line for completion is $60 million worth of infrastructure and the 133-room Residence Inn-branded Inn at Bellefield. According to documents prepared by CMS Architecture & Design for investment and asset management firm T-Rex Capital Group, the finished project will include a total of 59 residences, representing a variety of regional architectural styles; a 45-acre agriculture complex; two hotels; a "market square" with restaurants, specialty food stores and wine shops; a year-round farmers market; a village green; conference center; performing arts center and amphitheater; and walking, hiking and biking trails through a nature preserve. Construction materials are to be eco-conscious, and buildings will include geothermal heating and solar energy. According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, Bellefield developers contributed $1.2 million toward new sewer lines for Hyde Park as part of a deal to allow the development to operate on its own septic system.

Construction of the hotel component alone at Bellefield is expected to create 550 jobs. Located across the street from the Culinary Institute of America, a mile from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and 90 minutes from New York City, the first phase of the project should generate more than $630 million in economic benefits and $118 million in tax revenue over 10 years.

Dive Insight:

In order to cater to those in search of a healthy or more rural lifestyle, some developments are including agricultural elements in their projects.

The Grow, a $1 billion, 1,200-acre project planned for the east Orlando area, according to the Orlando Business Journal, is also banking on the public's desire to get a little closer to nature. Community plans include a nine-acre farm, which developers call the focal point of the project, plus 21 acres of community gardens, an event lawn and barn, an equestrian center, an elementary school, a town center and more than 170,000 square feet of commercial space.

The development will also feature edible landscape trails, a 20-acre community park, 12 miles of recreational trails, a farmer's market and a "farm-and-table" restaurant that will serve what is grown on the property.

Similar to The Grow is Agritopia, a master-planned community in the Phoenix metro area. At the 160-acre development's core are 11 acres of certified organic farmland that supply Agritopia's restaurants in addition to those in the surrounding community. A planned 20-acre "Epicenter" with retail and apartments will serve as the "urban core" of the development.